Fraternizing 101
by willwrite4fics
Summary: BH/CG finally get to go out on a date in town. Will it go well or be a disaster? Dinner at a real resturant, can Beach remember all the dating advice?
1. Chapter 1

The first real date in town finally happens... how will it go? Will Beach go through with the date? Will they be allowed to go out? Will CoverGirl change her mind? Will Williams stow away to interfere and get murdered out of hand finally?

Read on and find out. I do not own any rights to GI Joe and make no money from these writings.

This is set after Driving Miss Courtney and will be a few chapters.

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BeachHead strode down the hallways, barely noticing when Duke passed him. The crewcut blond stopped and called back to him though and he stopped to peer from under lowered brows. "Yeah?"

"Beach... you're dripping on the floor.. what happened?" Duke stepped just a little bit further away as the reek of the mud reached him. The Ranger looked down at his mud-smeared clothing and shrugged. "BeachHead, you're covered in muck."

"Yeah. I was stringing tripwires in the mudpits. Guess I got a little dirty." BeachHead shook his arm slightly and chunks of slimy mud flicked around the hallway. "I'll clean up in a while."

Duke sighed at him. "How about you clean up now.. so the maintenance crew doesn't gripe at me for an hour tomorrow about having to clean the trail of muck?"

"Fine." Beach turned to head for the showers and stopped to turn back to Duke. "I'm off duty in an hour.. and I got tomorrow off. Ain't gonna be no issue for me to go on into town this evening, right?" He was studiously looking at the bland walls like they contained secret messages. His flat tone said he couldn't care less if he was off-duty or on call. Duke, having heard the scuttlebutt being whispered around the Pit, wasn't fooled.

"No Beach. No issue," Duke said. He controlled the smile at the Ranger's posture perking up. "Have a good evening. But..." He paused. "Please.. don't get into any more trouble in town. Just.. a quiet evening.. then back."

"Planning on a quiet evening, Duke. Ain't like I'm planning on no trouble." Beach seemed just a little perturbed. He really didn't like being reminded of his escapades.

Duke shook his head. "I know.. but you weren't planning on any trouble the last time. If there's some sort of disturbance this time.."

"Ain't gonna be no trouble." Beach glowered at him, the muddy balaclava hiding most of his expression.

"Good. Have a good evening." Duke turned on his heel and walked off down the hallway.

Beach watched him go for a moment and then headed for his quarters to grab clothing. Anyone who passed him in the hallway pressed against the walls to avoid him or made faces at the stench. His glower told them he wasn't in the mood for snarky comments. Taking a long hot soapy shower made him feel a lot better. He scrubbed his hair a few times trying to get the sand and grit out.

Out of the shower, he dragged on a pair of pants and dried his hair with a towel before he gazed in the mirror at the unruly curls. "Alright." Pulling a comb through it repeatedly, he managed to get it tamed more or less. As he walked back to his quarters, he spotted a few sidelong glances at him and ducked his head down. He tried to glare at Shipwreck but the sailor just grinned back at him. "Whaddya lookin' at?"

"Nothing." Shipwreck held up his hands and backed down the hallway. "Not looking at anything, Drill." He twisted around and continued away, whistling loudly.

"Crazy sailor." Beach walked down to his quarters again, noting the muddy bootprints on the floor. As he was swiping his card through the scanner, a familiar voice made him turn.

"Hey Beach." Scarlett smiled at him. "I thought I'd drop by and see if you wanted a hand?"

He narrowed his gaze at her and opened his door. "Hand with what?" Even though he didn't exactly welcome her into his quarters, he left the door open for her to enter behind him. "I'm just.. uhh.. getting ready to..." He stalled out and pressed his lips together. "I'm ahhh..."

She rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her. "You're going on a 'date', Beach. It's an awfully short word, even you should be able to remember the term." She patted his arm as he tried to look outraged. "Don't worry. I thought you might want some help picking out something to wear."

"Shouldn't you be dressin' Snake or something?" He frowned slightly as he tossed the filthy clothing into his bin. "I'm perfectly capable of dressin' myself." Pulling open his lowest drawer, he looked at the neatly folded civilian clothing. Was it the dark blue with dark green... or light blue and dark green?

Scarlett leaned over his shoulder. "Well.. maybe you'd like to know what colors Courtney is wearing? Then you'll know what you'd like to wear?" He tilted his head towards her. "I do happen to know what she'll be wearing."

He shifted his shoulders uncomfortably. "Well, yeah I guess." Beach turned his face towards her. "Just you know.. so I'll know what to wear... is she gonna be real dressy?"

"Oh.. well.. sort of dressy. She has this really nice open back dress.. very full flowing skirt but it's only knee length." He blinked at her and she added, "It's deep blue."

"Sooo.. I should wear the dark blue?" Beach looked at the drawer. "Is it polo shirt dressy or button up shirt dressy?"

She smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Beach... you understand there's a difference between the two levels of dressiness. I'm so proud of you."

Beach smiled smugly. "Yeah.. I been talkin' to a few folks about fashion and stuff." He paused. "I forget which one is more dressy though." He looked up at her sigh of disappointment. "It's the long sleeve shirt that's more dressy."

She nodded. "You just guessed, didn't you?"

"Hey.. I had a fifty-fifty shot. So which should I wear?" As he half expected, she reached past him to pull out clothing for him. Despite his protests that he had everything in hand, he was a little relieved that she'd shown up.

"Go with the light blue polo, and your nicer slacks. That should be nice without being too dressed up." She handed over the clothing then looked him over critically. "You are going to comb out your hair, right?"

He tossed the clothing onto his bunk. "I did comb it." He waved his hand at his head. "It just goes all over the place."

"Don't worry, I'll fix it for you." She raised an eyebrow. "It's the least I can do for Courtney. You will behave at dinner, right?"

"Yes.. I'll behave." He gave her a sly look. "I'll try not to manhandle the waiter too much and refrain from chewing on the table or using my combat knife to pick my teeth. That good enough fer you?"

"Smartass. Are you going to change, or back out of the date like a big wuss?" She was shooed away. "Oh come on.. you want me out to change? Dude.. I've seen you nearly naked before."

"Only because you wouldn't turn yer back, you hussy. Out out out!" He waved her towards the door. "Go on with ya.. give me five minutes to change, then I promise ya can comb my hair as much as ya wanna."

Scarlett protested as she was hustled out of the door. "But but.. how am I supposed to report to Courtney about your 'hidden assets' if I don't get a peek?"

"Good GAWD woman! Out!" Beach shut the door behind her and shook his head. He knew she was joking, he appreciated that she was his friend and thought enough to come give him a hand with the civie clothing and all that. But sometimes the absolutely shameless nature of the Joe's female troops astounded him. He didn't ever make comments about wanting to see them naked.

Just in case she was as impatient as always, he changed quickly, taking just a second to shrug his shoulders inside the unfamiliar short sleeved shirt. He checked his holster at the small of his back and the half dozen knives in various places. It did slightly annoy him that he couldn't hide things along his forearms with short sleeves. Popping the door back open, he waited for Scarlett to look him over, turning a circle when she twirled her hand at him. "Good?"

"Where's your black belt?" He protested and she scowled. "No, we do not wear tan belts with tan pants, that's an army thing. Put on the black one instead." She watched him think it over for a few seconds and give in without further protest. "Good boy. Sit down and I'll do your hair, Courtney will be waiting if you take much longer."

"She's waiting?" Beach started back up from the chair and was pushed back down. He reached up and scuffed his hair up so it stuck out in all directions. "There... now you can feel like you really did something." He winced when she yanked her comb through it roughly a few times. "Ow.. ow ow.."

"Don't be a baby. You messed it all up, your own fault." Despite the unruly nature of the hair, Scarlett had it neatly combed out in a few moments. "There. Darn half curly hair and cowlicks. One day we're going to strap you to a chair and let Jaye trim it for you." She grinned as Beach got up quickly. "Don't worry, Courtney's probably just waiting in the rec room."

"Yeah.. I don't wanna keep her waiting though.. what if she changes her mind?" Beach snatched up his ID and rarely used bank card. When he scooped up the small comm unit to tuck it into a pocket, Scarlett frowned at him. "What? I gotta carry it.. don't matter if'n I'm off duty, I'm still the Command Sergeant major here.. I gotta be able to be reached in an emergency."

"I guess so." She looked doubtful. "As long as no one decides it would be a great idea to bug you for fun."

He shrugged. "I doubt anyone would bother. What would the point be in that?" She sighed at him and he sighed right back at it in exact imitation. "I gotta carry it, it's regulations. No discussion."

"Fine." She waved towards the door. "Do you have everything you might need? You know..." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Just in case? Protection. You know.. have it on you?"

He thought it over, mentally going over everything he had on him.. knives, extra clip, gun, security clearance, ID... "Yeah.. I'm good. Got everything." He really should get two extra clips for his hideaway gun, but he didn't have many pockets in the slacks, so he guessed he was as well set as he could be. He wondered at the odd look on her face as she almost blushed asking him about it. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing.. not a thing. You better get headed out." Scarlett walked beside him as he strode down the hallways. "Try not to argue with her.. okay? Just.. tell her she looks nice and you know... ask her about things she likes to talk about."

He twisted his face a little. "So ask her about her car.. and stuff like that? And CoverGirl always looks nice, how come I gotta tell her that? Ain't like she ain't gotta mirror to look in if she thinks her hair might be mussed up." He was smacked in the arm and frowned at her. "What? Don't be beatin' on me."

"Beach! You tell her she looks nice or so help me god I'll kick you in the head when hand-to-hand comes up." Scarlett put a finger up to his face. "You better not screw this up or do anything mean to her!"

"I ain't!" Beach held up a hand in protest. "I'll tell her she's lovely.. I ain't gonna go doin' nothin' mean to her!" He glanced up as Flint passed them in the hall. "Hey Flint, I'll be off base in twenty minutes."

Flint nodded in a distracted manner, absorbed in the file he was checking in his hands. Then he stopped dead in the hall and turned to look at him. "BeachHead?"

The Ranger stopped and looked at him. "Yeah?"

Flint looked him over, from neatly creased slacks to his combed hair. "BeachHead? Holy crap." He blinked. "You look good. Have a good evening." He turned away, shaking his head in disbelief. After a few steps, he turned to call over his shoulder. "I'll try to make sure no one calls you on the comm. Unless there's some major emergency, I'll take care of stuff."

Beach thought that over for a few seconds, trying to figure out if there was some sort of hidden snark or disparaging remark in it. "Uhh.. thanks."

"No problem!" Flint turned a corner and Scarlett tugged at Beach's arm.

He let himself be pushed back towards the rec room area. "That was.. odd." He looked down at Scarlett. "Ya'll didn't tell him nothin' right? I mean.. I don't think no one needs to know we're goin' out on a date or nothin'."

Scarlett laughed softly. "Beach, seriously. Everyone knows. Every-one." They emerged into the rec room and Beach blinked slightly at the number of Joes lounging around or gathered up at one end where he could barely spot CoverGirl's blond hair through the people. "See?"

Shipwreck whistled softly. "Wow.. BeachHead can clean himself up." Before Beach could retort, he got mobbed and crouched slightly in a startled reaction. It seemed people just wanted to fuss over him in civilian clothing though and he relaxed after a minute.

Dusty gave his sleeve a tug. "Snazzy threads Beach. I didn't know you owned anything but fatigues and battle armor."

He twitched away. "Yeah.. well, there's a lotta stuff you don't know." He jumped slightly when Jaye wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Hey.. hands off.. come on.."

She grinned at him and turned loose. "I knew you'd look good dressed out. Nice duds, Sergeant major." She patted his arms. "Showing off the big guns!" He blushed and she reached up to pat his cheek before he could duck away. "Look at you, going out on a date like a big boy and everything."

"Oh get away from me." He pushed her with his elbow and she laughed again. "CoverGirl, if'n we're goin' out.. we need... to... need..." He blinked at her. Something about finishing a sentence vaguely occurred to his brain but he disregarded it.

She smiled and reached with one hand to twitch nervously at the skirt of her dress. "Hey Beach.. " Her dress was all sorts of silky and draped over her curves and exposed a heck of a lot of skin with the plunging neckline and no sleeves and that skirt didn't look knee-length to him at all.. he was pretty sure that was a bit of thigh he was looking at... oh and she was talking to him and he had best listen. "Do I look okay?"

He blinked and before he could figure out how to use the english language stored somewhere in the back of his head, Dusty piped up.

"If he doesn't want to take you out, I'd love to! You're gorgeous!" Dusty grinned until he turned to BeachHead. The glower made him jump aside and hold up his hands. "Sorry! I was just... you know.. I know... you're taking her out, not me, don't rip out my eyeballs!"

"Yeah well, ya ain't gotta be goin' and makin' comments." Beach's glare went around the room and every male there averted their eyes in hopes of keeping them. The instant his gaze passed, they went right back to admiring the ex-model who didn't seem so much 'ex' as 'model' right then. The burly Ranger walked across the room and cleared his throat. "You look real nice, very.. umm.. beautiful." She smiled shyly and there was a soft echo of 'awwww' in the room and he twisted to glare. "Ya'll shut it. Dang smartasses.."

"Oh it's fine Beach.. leave them alone." CoverGirl's hand settled on his forearm and he quieted. "You look great." He sniffed slightly in dismissal. "No, really. I like the polo."

He smiled just a little bit, forgetting the rest of the room in favor of looking at her. "Yeah? Thanks." He offered an arm to her and she rested one hand lightly on it. "If you're ready, we should head out, a'fore the rest of these guys get some smart idea to cause trouble." His eyes flicked around the room and everyone protested. "Yeah.. ya'll just keep yer yaps shut. We're just goin' to eat dinner!"

CoverGirl laughed softly at his annoyance and tugged slightly to lead him out of the room. "Come on Beach, you don't need to eviscerate anyone tonight, not before dinner." Her sly smile returned to her face. "Maybe after dinner.. but not before."

He snorted. "This's that 'manners' thing again, ain't it? No disemboweling folks before eating?"

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end chapter

Yes, I know, it's taken a long time to get them to the "going out on a real date". If you're glad to finally see it, please feel free to review! How do you think the date will go?


	2. Chapter 2: Travels and Temptations

And they're leaving the Pit.. no disasters yet! Maybe the date will go perfectly smoothly, with no issues! It could happen... really! It COULD! Not likely maybe...

Thanks for the awesome reviews! Those really made my day! Thank you for reading!

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The two of them moved up in the Pit's lift system headed to ground level. Her hand squeezed lightly on his arm and he felt rather warm all over. "You really do look really good."

"So do you." Her easy relaxed smile made him feel good. She looked him over a little as they rode the lifts up to the motorpool. "Scarlett was right.. those pants do make your ass look great."

"Good gawd.. you women are.. you're just... never mind." He tried to relax and ignore the heat on his face. "Ya'll are shameless. I didn't go making no comments on your behind in that dress, did I?"

"Yes, I'm a little disappointed to tell the truth." His head swiveled to stare at her and only relaxed once he saw the teasing spark in her eyes. "I know.. you're such a gentleman. You do remember what I said on the road trip, right?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah.. I remember." He studiously stared at the walls going past rather than in her direction. Puffing out a soft sigh of relief, he motioned for her to precede him off the lift. The wolf whistles that erupted from the motorpool's workers were abruptly silenced when he stepped out after her. He could almost hear the nervous swallows. "I know I didn't just hear ya'll harassing a lady. Did I?"

"No Sergeant major!" came the chorus. He saw several of the braver ones still sneaking looks at the long shapely legs as CoverGirl walked across the garage area with complete poise and confidence. Clutch went as far as letting out a long sigh as he watched. Of course, Clutch was safely across most of the motorpool floor out of direct range of anything but a thrown weapon or a bullet. Beach settled for throwing a few glares and made a mental note of exactly how many laps the grease monkey would have added to his routine when Beach ran PT next.

Lengthening his stride, Beach reached the SUV just before she did and opened the driver's door. "You're gonna wanna drive, I assume?" She smiled and settled into the driver's seat, tossing her purse onto the floor. Beach glanced to make sure her skirt was inside, saw a great deal of exposed thigh skin again and swallowed before he closed the door quietly. He cursed at himself the entire walk around to the passenger side. Just as he opened the door, he distinctly heard Clutch's voice as he spoke overly loud to the others in the motorpool.

Clutch sneered just a little bit. "At least we know who's in the driver's seat of that relationship, hey boys?" Most of the guys seemed to hover between snickering and planning an escape, while keeping a wary eye on the Ranger who had paused to look over at the mechanic.

Beach's easy drawl sounded as if he was as calm as flat water. "It's astoundin' how danged jealous ya sound, Clutch. Ain't no reason to be all jealous like though, ain't like ya ever hadda shot at her, no how." Clutch's face went dark and Beach settled into the passenger seat and closed the door. He gave her a warning look. "Alright.. try not to make me scream on the drive? Duke said I ain't allowed to get in no kind of trouble."

She smirked and put the vehicle in reverse. "Relax Ranger man. I got your back." She slammed the gas pedal and slung the SUV out of the large motorpool doors, twirling the steering wheel with ease to swing them around and slapping the brakes to stop them in precisely the exact spot to head down the access road. "Let's get outa here." Before he could do more than grit his teeth, she let the clutch go and punched the gas hard. Gravel spun up from the tires as they sped off.

"Gawd help me.." BeachHead tried to keep a grip on the dashboard as they took the curves at thirty miles an hour over the sedate speed limit on base. "Watch the stop sign!"

They slid to a stop and she turned a bland expression on him. "You're just such a grandma when it comes to cars, Beach. Loosen up, don't you trust me?"

He leveled a 'you're kidding' look on her. "Who wrecked a APC into the only ditch in a ten mile radius? In reverse no less?"

"Shut up. You ran over a Corvette with a tank." She hit the gas again.

"Yeah.. but they were in my way.. I gave 'em plenty of time to move." Beach clenched his jaw as they squeaked under a yellow light.

She smiled to herself, swung the vehicle into the wrong lane to pass a slower jeep. She enjoyed the way Beach tensed up before she swung back into her lane just before oncoming trucks would be a threat. "Calm down, Beach. I'm not going to get us killed before you buy me dinner."

"Good to know, Barbie.. how about you ease off the gas pedal so I won't swallow my tongue before dinner? It'll kill my appetite." Despite his words, she noticed he wasn't nearly as nervous as he normally was, so perhaps he was actually getting used to riding passenger with her.

"Nothing kills your appetite, Sergeant Hardass. You'd set your table on a week-dead horse and eat without a twitch." She slowed slightly as she approached the front gate.

"Week-dead horse ain't gonna kill me.. yer drivin' on the other hand might just. Stop at the gate.. stop.. stop!" Beach let out a grateful breath as she stopped at the feet of the MP.

Order barked a few times and jumped up on the driver's door. CoverGirl rolled the window down and petted the german shepard. Law leaned slightly to peer in. "Afternoon. Headed out? Got your passes?" Beach held up his and CoverGirl took a second to dig hers out of her purse. Law nodded and smiled. "You look nice, Corporal."

"Thanks!" She smiled prettily back at him. "Open the gate, I gotta powerful need for speed!"

Beach grunted to himself. "Keep it closed.. keep it closed.. awww heck." The gate swung open and the SUV left rubber on the road as she took off. "Girl.. don't get us arrested.."

"Calm down.. we have five miles before I have to worry about the speed limits." She reached to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I should have put my hair up nice."

"It looks nice to me." Beach gazed at her for a few seconds. "I mean.. down, it looks nice. Very.. shiny."

Her lips twitched but she kept from laughing. "Thank you Beach."

He nodded and glanced at her legs rather involuntarily. His eyes fixed on her knee for a moment and then he looked out across the dash, clearing his throat. "I uhh.. didn't think you'd dress up so much."

"Well.. it's just a dress and a little makeup." She felt herself blush though. "What did you expect?"

"I dunno." His glance dropped down again and she could see the effort as he dragged them up again to look at her. "I ain't never seen you wear.. pantyhose.." He cleared his throat. "Well.. that one time you was in dress greens.. but.. I wasn't noticin' yer legs then."

She sighed. "Yeah well... I like girly clothing once in a while." She smiled. "Besides.. I'm not wearing pantyhose. I'm wearing stockings." The look she cut his way said something naughty to him, but sadly he wasn't aware of what it was. He could either pretend he understood, or suck it up and ask. He didn't want to ask, it would make him look even more inexperienced and stupid and she would make fun of him.

"What's the difference?" Beach cursed to himself silently.

The naughty glance returned. "Stockings don't go all the way up.. you have to wear a garter belt with them." She saw his breathing go a bit shallow. "You do know what a garter belt is, right? It's one of those lacy little.."

"Ah know whut a gartuh belt is." He cleared his throat. "Ya ain't gotta describe it. I understand." He shifted uncomfortably. "I get it."

She smiled in a saucy manner. "Really? Are you picturing me in a garter belt? Because it's black... and lacy.. and.."

He closed his eyes. "No.. of course Ah'm not." He took a very deep breath and opened his eyes. "How far is the restaurant?"

"Are you changing the subject?"

"Yes, dang it.. I'm tryin' to change the subject." A heavy breath puffed out. "You ain't gotta embarrass me the whole evenin', you know."

"Okay... yes, we're near the restaurant. Have you eaten here before? It's nice." She smirked just a bit at how extremely uncomfortable she'd made him.

"I think once a long while back. It was some sorta meeting Hawk had with a colonel, wanted me along to glower at the pogue's bodyguard." She snorted out a laugh. "It's true, he told me to glare at him and make certain he didn't get too uppity at him."

"I'll bet he was on his best behavior." She shook her hair back some as they reached the main strip and she slowed the vehicle to watch for good parking spots.

Beach snorted. "Yeah, he never even touched his butter knife and I don't think he made eye contact with Hawk even once. Hawk said I was very effective. Us semi-literate knuckle-draggers have our uses." He watched out the window at the civilians as they circled the area slowly.

"I said I was sorry I called you that." She sighed at him.

He grinned. "Yeah well, I repeated it to Hawk and he got a kick outa it. Said he could always use more of us grunts for his brute squads." She chuckled and he continued. "Apparently some of the more civilized generals considered me a throw-back to the old Army grunts."

She shook her head, grinning at him. "Hawk takes me along as his assistant because I look harmless but he knows that I can take care of myself."

"Good choice." Beach nodded at an open parking spot. "If you don't mind walkin' a few blocks, there's a space." She pulled in and parked. The Ranger got out and held her door to let her get out, making her get all flustered. "I keep tellin' ya, I got manners."

"Well yes.. you just don't normally show them. I'm really more used to you shouting at me and calling me a 'maggot' or something." She shook her skirt out and brushed at it a little. "It's a little odd to have you holding doors and being all nice."

He offered his arm to her and smiled. "Well, I can call you a maggot if'n it'll make you feel better." She made a face at him. "Didn't your momma never tell you not to make faces or your face would stick that way?"

"No, my mother told me that making faces would cause crows feet and ruin my face and I'd never get a good contract." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "Everything was about how I looked and getting a shot at a modeling career."

"Well, it seemed to have worked, you were a model, right?" He saw her expression change to a bland uncaring mask. "Didn't you like being a model? I mean.. that's what you did."

"Well.. at first." She sighed and used one hand to fluff her hair a bit before returning it to his arm. "It was kind of flattering to have people all fussing over you, and giving you clothes to put on, and doing your hair and makeup... but then it's also when the directors all start hounding you about whether you put on two ounces of fat. It's when photographers start 'suggesting' that wearing less clothing would boost your portfolio. It's when catty remarks are the norm from your fellow models. It's not much fun."

He scowled. "Don't sound like nothin' you'd go puttin' up with."

"Well, Mom pushed me pretty hard to keep up with it. So it was constantly 'should you be eating that' and 'don't squint' and 'no you can't go out with your friends'." She sighed and wrapped her arm around his further and sort of hugged his arm a little. "It got more and more miserable. Every year it became more of the 'you're not getting younger' and that I had to make the big break right now or I'd be passed by for younger girls."

She could almost hear him thinking before he looked down at her. "No offense, but yer momma is a bit odd in the head, ain't she? I mean, putting her girl through a buncha junk like that just so you could do something you didn't wanna do in the first place?" He shook his head. "Don't make a lotta sense."

CoverGirl snugged in a little closer. "No it doesn't. But about then is when I decided I wanted to be part of something important and better and challenging." She smiled at him. "That's when I joined up with the Army, and opted for the mechanics school right out of Basic. Mom was scandalized. I don't think she'll ever quite forgive me for all this. But I certainly don't regret it one bit."

He nodded. "I'm glad you decided on the Army. Otherwise I'd never have met you." His shoulders bunched and relaxed as he shrugged around inside his shirt and she gave him a questioning look. "Not used to these civie clothes."

She shook her head, smiling at his unease. "Well you look very nice."

"Thank you." He waited for a smart alack remark to follow, surprised when she didn't say anything further. They arrived at the restaurant and he ushered her inside.

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End chapter

Well, they made it to their restaurant. I hope you're still enjoying and thank you so much for reading! Please feel free to review or PM any comments or questions. Thanks! Part 3 will be coming up soon!


	3. Chapter 3:And we're eating

Sorry for the delay in chapter 3! Here it is now.. can they make it through dinner?

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It was early enough to not be crowded yet and the waiter standing at the front showed them to a table near the back. BeachHead insisted on seating his date, which she managed to accept without blushing too deeply.

The waiter handed over menus and clasped his hands together in front of him. "Your waitress will be around in a moment. Can I take your drink order?" The two looked at each other for a moment.

BeachHead glanced up at the waiter then back at CoverGirl. "I think I'm gonna stick with iced tea. Do you have sweet?"

The waiter smiled benignly. "I'll bring you sugar to put in it."

Beach sighed. "Heretic tea. That's fine." He tipped his head at his date who seemed to be thinking about it. "Cov.. Courtney?"

"Water with lemon." She flipped the menu to the front. "I'd like a glass of white wine too. The Riesling will be fine." The waiter disappeared and she looked at BeachHead. "Do you want to share an antipasto?"

He twisted his face. "Pasta?"

She sighed. "No, antipasto.. it's like an appetizer plate. Pickled vegetables, olives, cheese?"

"Oh.. appetizers, yeah." He straightened up. "Sure. Sounds tasty." He shifted uneasily and looked around the room. Then he bent over the menu and looked it over. "Sooo..."

She looked at her menu as well. "Do you want to do a soup course too?" He gave a shrug. "Well? Yes or no?"

"Sure." He looked at her for a second. "You look really nice tonight." Looking over to the nearby tables, his eyes slid back to her face. "I ain't sayin' that just to make you happy neither. I never seen you look so pretty." She smiled at him. "Wait.. I was wrong.. now you ain't never looked prettier. I like when you smile."

She blushed and looked astounded. "That's... I mean.. gee Beach.." He looked smug and pleased with himself and she looked around for their waitress. "Where's that wine, I think I'm going to need it." When she looked back at him, he looked a bit disappointed. "What's wrong?"

"Well.. I thought I got the whole complimentin' thing right. But now you're talkin' about needin' wine to get through the evenin'. What'd I do wrong?" He leaned across the table slightly. "I don't mean that you don't look pretty all the time.. even covered in machine oil in baggy coveralls.. you still look good."

"Wayne! Stop! Oh my god.. you're going to make me embarrassed!" She couldn't stop smiling now. "You're doing just fine on the compliments. Just.. stop." He shut up and sighed. "No no.. it's really nice. Honestly. I just.. I'm not used to you saying so many nice things to me." She suddenly grinned at him. "It's been a long time since I went on a date, you know. Usually when a guy says I look pretty, I kick him in the knee for harassment."

He relaxed. "Well.. long as you remember not to go kickin' me in the kneecaps, I guess it's okay." His head swiveled as the waitress approached. Courtney saw him relax nearly as quickly as he'd tensed. "Waitress is here..."

They were handed glasses of drinks and Beach sighed and added a few packets of sugar to his. He stirred it a few times, then his eyes narrowed as he looked at the blond seated sedately sipping at her water. Reaching over, he plucked up the salt and set it out of her reach. "Not that I'm sayin' you'd go pullin' pranks on our dinner out..."

"Good call." She smirked at him. "It's not that I want to.. it's like I neeeeed to." He rolled his eyes at that and pointed at the menu. "Yes yes.. I know. I'm sorry." She smiled at the waitress. "We'd like the antipasto to start with. Can we have a few minutes more to decide?"

The waitress gave a nod, smiling at both of them. "Not a problem. I'll go put in the order for your antipasto." She turned and walked away, her hips swaying. CoverGirl's eyes narrowed at her departing rear and turned to Beach to catch him staring. Instead she found the Ranger's eyes focused on her own cleavage. "Uhh.. hello.." She raised an eyebrow as his gaze flicked upwards. "Eyes up here, big boy."

He blinked and looked back down then suddenly away. "I was.. wasn't.. I mean." He took a deep breath. "I was lookin' at yer dog tags and thinkin' most girls would have left those back at base."

She looked down at the shiny tags laying on her chest. "Oh.. well.. honestly? I forgot. Otherwise I'd have changed them out for a necklace." She fiddled with them a second and then took them off quickly. "Geez. I can't believe I left them on."

Beach dipped his fingers into the collar of his shirt and tugged his free before tucking them back in. "We matched." He snorted lightly. "Of course, I don't usually consider takin' mine off." He tipped his head and looked at the menu again. "You wanna do the whole shebang? Soup, entree' and dessert.. all that?"

She hummed softly. "Well, I could do the regular girly date thing and insist that a light salad is more than enough for me to be full." Her eyes sparkled. "But I know you'll just fuss that I can't afford to lose any weight and insist I should eat a full meal. So yes, let's do the whole 'shebang'." She pointed. "They do have a really killer pasta fagioli here. That's a soup with.."

He interrupted with a bored tone. "Bean and pasta soup.. sometimes with sausage. Is theirs spicy?" Beach's amused expression turned up to her. "I do know a little bit about food.. it's a favorite hobby of mine in case you ain't noticed."

"I noticed... especially pie." She suddenly flipped to the back of the menu. "Sorry.. no pie for dessert here."

"I know.. I checked already. Disappointing." He smiled. "I can eat another dessert. What are you gonna have for dinner?"

She hummed and twisted herself in her chair a little, crossing her legs to the side and absolutely not noticing Beach's eyes traveling down the length of her calves and back up. "I think I'll have their tortellini, it's pretty good." She let her leg rise up some then slid it up and down the other leg slightly. Glancing up from under the long eyelashes, she watched him swallow. "What would you like tonight?" His eyes met hers and she smiled at the heated look in them. Nodding at the forgotten menu in his hands, she let her smile widen slightly. "Beach? Dinner?"

He blinked and glanced down at the menu. "Uhh.. I uhh." She watched him focus. "I guess... maybe lasagna.. see how it compares to Roadblock's. Have the fagioli soup, it'll go well with it." He set the menu down and looked at her, then deliberately let his eyes trail down her body and along the folds of silken cloth, to the sleek legs, then back up to her eyes. The corner of his mouth quirked upwards and he let out a soft sigh. "You look so good."

She felt her face grow hot and cursed softly as she blushed. "Beach... dang it.. you're trying to get me all embarrassed." She tucked her legs under her chair and reached to pluck at the plunging neckline of her dress. "Thank you. Umm.. you uhh.. you have tomorrow off?"

"Yeah.. Psyche-Out declared I needed a day off, so... I gotta day off assigned to me." He shifted to move his chair to the side a little. "I didn't know if.. maybe you'd like.. to uhh.. whether you'd like to go do something after dinner." He looked away nervously. "It's okay if not.. I mean.. not that ya need me to tell ya it'd be okay.."

She interrupted. "What'd you have in mind?"

He began to fiddle with the napkin. "Whatever ya want I guess. I'unno what you like to do here in town. Shoppin' or something?" He cleared his throat. "Or we could do some star-gazin' out away from everything."

The waitress returned and CoverGirl watched him turn to look at her. The young woman smiled at him, tossing her hair back. "Are you ready to order, sir?" CoverGirl saw him twitch.

"Yes'm." He nodded at his tablemate. "Courtney?"

She nodded and ran her finger down the page. "Yes, I'd like the pasta fagioli, and then the tortellini."

The waitress scribbled a second. "Cheese or chicken tortellini?"

"Hmm... cheese." CoverGirl was immediately ignored as she turned back to the seated man instead.

"And for you, sir?" Her simpering smile was back and the mechanic's eyes narrowed. Beach twitched again, although he wasn't even looking at her or noticing the way she stood just a little closer to his elbow than would be polite.

"Fagioli soup and lasagna." He flipped the menu shut and handed it up to her without looking, bringing his eyes up to his date instead. "Soo, shoppin' or star gazin' or something else?"

CoverGirl watched the waitress get slightly annoyed at him ignoring her. "Thank you sir..." There went the twitch again. "I'll have your next course out shortly." She paused a moment and then turned to walk away, glancing behind herself to see if he was paying attention to her sashay. When she saw he wasn't watching, she sped up and disappeared to another table. The tank jockey smiled to herself.

Beach cleared his throat. "Courtney?"

She looked back at him with a soft smile. "I think star gazing sounds very romantic. We'll have to get out away from town so that it'll be dark and we can see the stars clearly." She frowned slightly. "What time do we have to be back at base?"

"Are you on duty tomorrow?" At her head shake, he shrugged. "It don't matter then." He leaned on the edge of the table and gave her a fake leer. "We can stay out all night long, darlin'."

She leaned in imitation and smirked. "Are you sure you're safe to be out with me alllll night long? What if I get too forward with you? There won't be any Private Williams to show up and protect your virtue."

He smiled. "Good. My virtue needs to stand on it's own feet." She snickered at him and then gave a soft sigh as the waitress came back with their antipasto, setting it rather deliberately on Beach's side of the table.

"Your antipasto, sir."

This time Beach almost winced and motioned at CoverGirl. "Thanks.. well go on and tell me which ones are better, Courtney."

Feeling extremely pleased at the level of frustration the waitress was showing as she twisted around abruptly and left again, she moved a few items to her plate. "Well.. the marinated tomatoes and peppers are always good.. this looks like brie...got to have some of that on the toast. Mmm, looks like a chutney.. and.. olives. My favorite is the artichoke hearts though.. they marinate them in the best garlic oil. Try one of those." She settled her laden plate and pointed. "Fruit is good too.. and I think that's prosciutto.. umm.. you can have the pickles. I don't care for pickles much."

He made a face. "Those artichokes are all yours. Pro-shoot-o? That the ham looking stuff?" She tried unsuccessfully to not smile and he wagged his head side to side at her. "Yeah yeah.. eat yer danged appetizers." He loaded his plate with various items and tasted the various pickles. "Not bad."

Courtney had finished all of the artichokes before the soup arrived. She saw Beach react again when the bowls were set on the table, the waitress managing to brush her hip against Beach's arm. He frowned and hitched his chair aside a little and the tank jockey smiled smugly. While she knew intellectually that the Ranger wasn't going to develop some attraction to a random waitress, it was intensely gratifying how he stayed so very focused on her and her alone. The young woman didn't give up easily however and continued to speak in a luscious simper to Beach while giving Courtney the cold shoulder.

By the time they were finishing the entree's, CoverGirl was fed up with the flirting going on in front of her. She'd directed a few scathing looks at the girl, only to see her smirk over her shoulder in reply. "I'm going to take that... that... trash out in the parking lot and teach her a few things if she doesn't stop it."

Beach looked startled and twisted around to run his gaze around the room. "Huh? Who are you talkin' about?"

She seethed for a moment trying to get herself under control. "That waitress that keeps trying to get into your pants."

His eyebrows went up. "Huh? The uhhh... Courtney.. I ain't even looked at no one."

"I know that," she said quieter. "It's her.. she's just.. she's a slimeball. She keeps hitting on you and making eyes at you.. right in front of me!".

He glanced around looking worried. "Don't you dare get into some danged catfight in the parking lot! You'll get me arrested and Duke'll bust me to a danged private!"

She snorted at him. "Eat your dinner. I think you left the parsley on the plate." He looked at the plate and scooped up the tidbit of greenery to pop into his mouth. "Beach! Oh my god... why did you do that!"

He rolled his tongue inside his mouth and made a little bit of a face. "That's not all that tasty. What? You said to eat it, I thought it was just to look nice on the plate."

"Beach.. really." She rolled her eyes when he grinned at her. "Oh.. you bastard. Yes, you got me, I fell for it. I'm glad it tasted bad. You're just horrible." Courtney watched the waitress come up with the desserts. "Thank you, it looks lovely." She smiled and watched the frustrated look as the girl tried leaning over enough to expose some cleavage, only to be ignored once again. Courtney dropped her voice to a husky tone, lowering her eyelids enough to give him her best bedroom eyes. "Oh Wayne, this is sooo creamy.. I just love tiramisu. Don't you love how tasty it is?" She enjoyed the look of jealous fury and smiled at Beach who gave her a warning look.

"It's very good." The waitress walked away quickly and Beach leaned across the table. "What was that? You better stop before we end up with a fistfight in the middle of this danged restaurant." He sighed at her. "Ain't like havin' a couple women catfightin' over me ain't flatterin' and all.. but dang, don't get me in trouble."

She hummed softly. "No catfighting. I promise. If I have to fight her, I'll put her down with a swift kick to the head. There won't be any theatric hair-pulling." She took a spoonful of her dessert and tucked the bite into her mouth, sucking the creamy substance off the utensil slowly. When her tongue swirled the last traces off the rounded end of the spoon, she looked up slyly and enjoyed the stunned look on his face. "It's really tasty.."

"Yeah.." His lip twitched slightly and there was a long drawn out breath. "Yeah... Ah see that." Beach swallowed and finally remembered to blink. "Ah'm glad it's... uhh.. it tastes okay."

She smiled at him and licked her upper lip slowly. "Sooo... are you ready, Wayne?"

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Hopefully it won't be as long a wait for the next chapter. Hope you're enjoying!


	4. Chapter 4: Fights

So glad people are enjoying! Here's the next chapter... continued exactly after the last...

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Beach swallowed nervously. "Uhhh... ready... fer what?" She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him look quite so nervous. "Ah mean..."

Courtney reached to rest one hand on his. "Ready to leave? It's full dark out, we could head out and find a good spot for star gazing, if you're ready?"

"Oh..." She carefully did not smile at the look of relief that crossed his face. He nodded and turned to look for one of the wait staff. "Yeah.. of course.."

He paid, she fussed mildly at him for insisting on paying just to see him roll his eyes. Beach insisted on holding her wrap for her to put on in retaliation, making her blush. He even offered his arm for the long walk back to the vehicle. She smiled as she tucked her arm through his, snugging into his side.

"You feel all warm and nice." She rested her head on his shoulder for a second. "Thank you for dinner."

His shoulder raised slightly. "Yer welcome.. it was a pleasure." He studied the sidewalk under his feet for a few moments. "If'n you don't really wanna go star-gazin' it's okay.."

"No no. I'd like that. I rarely get to do anything like that. I go shopping with Scarlett and Jaye all the time.. and there's no good movies playing. Besides, it doesn't matter what we do, as long as we're doing it together. Right?"

"I guess so.. I mean.. there's probably some things not as good as others. But I don't get much time to just.. relax and not do much of nothin'." His shoulders moved around again and settled.

"What's wrong, Beach?" Courtney turned loose and looked at him. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"What? No." He seemed confused and she watched his shoulders do the same odd shrug.

Suddenly she laughed and shook her head. "Does it feel weird not to have any armor or tac vest on?"

He peered down at her and then smiled sheepishly. "Yeah.. sorry." Reaching over, he put an arm around her and pulled her back in to his side. "I'm tryin' darlin'.. I'm tryin'."

"You're doing just fine."

"HEY! YOU! You heifer!" The shout from behind them made Beach twist around and reach for his handgun before he identified the waitress striding up the sidewalk angrily. "Yeah, you better hide behind him, you little hussy!"

CoverGirl pushed past Beach, putting an elbow into his ribs when he tried to grab her arm. "Who you calling a hussy, you slut?" Her stiff posture as she stood between the other woman and Beachhead told him there was trouble upcoming. What's wrong, feeling like a loser since you couldn't slime your way into my boyfriend's pants?"

"Oh right.. like he'd choose you over me... I'm going to fix your face up where he won't look at you.." The heavier waitress pushed at her sleeve as she approached and Beach stepped up to take Courtney's elbow.

"Whoa.. let's not have trouble... you just go back into the restaurant...ain't no reason fer no trouble.. we're just leavin'.." He tried to sound reasonable.

CoverGirl turned to retort at him and the waitress grabbed her by the hair to yank her backwards. There was a extremely short squall and thunk and the larger woman landed on her back on the sidewalk, clutching at her ear. "YOU BITCH! You kicked me!"

"Bring it ON you cow!" Courtney scuffled with her assailant a second time, tossed her over onto her back again and started to dive on her.

BeachHead scooped her up by her waist and hefted her to the side. "Cut it out!" When she tried to head back around him, he blocked her with outstretched arms. "Stop!"

The downed woman struggled to sit up. "You just wait! You... you can't beat me and kick me!"

Courtney, straightened her dress slightly and looked down at her assailant with a sneer. "Oh shut it you little wuss. I didn't even make you bleed yet."

Beach stepped between them again and crowded CoverGirl backwards. "Hey.. no bleedin' needed here.. Ah'm all yourn, darlin'.. no worries. Let's leave.." He urged her to turn and start down the sidewalk, ignoring the cursing as the defeated female got up and left. "Come on.. ya promised Ah wouldn't get in trouble.."

She started to walk up the sidewalk and then stopped under a streetlight. Lifting her skirt up a bit, she cursed loudly. "Look at this! I got a run in my stocking! These are my good stockings!" Courtney waved a hand at her leg, hitching the hem upwards. "Oh my GOD! It's not just a snag, it's all the way up! They're ruined."

Beach watched her slip the fabric higher up her thigh and felt a twitch. He also at some point really should go back to the breathing thing.. probably. His head tilted as she lifted the skirt to check the stocking, exposing the be-ribboned upper border of lace. When things started to go a bit dim, Beach sucked in air and looked away. "Uhh.. yeah.." He coughed a few times. "Shame about yer stockin' there... real shame.. but then.. ya shouldn't have gone and kicked her.."

Courtney scowled and waved at her leg. "But Beach! These are my good stockings! This is imported lacework! Look at it! Does this look cheap?" 

Without him really deciding to look, his eyes traveled down to the creamy thigh and he sighed heavily. "Naw.. it don't look cheap... it looks like it's gonna cost me a lot.." He blinked. "The stockin' Ah mean.. not.. well.. never mind.. shouldn't we be headed to the car?"

She narrowed her gaze suspiciously. "Yeah.. I think we should. Before you get yourself in trouble with me."

"Yeah.. trouble.." Beach shook his head. "Yer the one gettin' in fights, and I'm the one gettin' in trouble. Ain't very danged fair, if'n ya ask me." His eyes flicked over to watch the silk flowing over her sedately hidden legs again. Thinking it over, he wasn't sure that it wasn't worth getting into trouble. Then he realized what he was thinking and shook his head at himself. Thinking that looking at a bit of thigh was worth getting put back onto punishment detail or worse, what was wrong with him? Although.. it was a really really nice thigh too.

Courtney straightened her hair a little as they walked. "I kicked her ass."

"Yes.. yes you did.. now let's get out of here before she brings her ten big brothers to kick my ass."

"You could take them all, Beach!" She beamed at him.

Beach sighed at her. "Well, thank you. I'd rather not end up on Duke's 'list of people in deep poop'."

"Well, okay.. but I still say you could take them!"

"I appreciate that... keep walking."

They got to the vehicle and she held out a hand for the keys. He shook his head and motioned her around to the passenger side and she balked and put both hands on her hips. "What? No way. I'm driving. I'm the driver."

"Not when ya been drinkin'." He motioned again with a little wave and she cocked her hip out and held out her hand again. "Look woman.. ya drank three glasses of wine less than an hour ago. At that blood alcohol level, ya don't drive."

Courtney got a stubborn set to her jaw and pointed at him, having to grab at her wrap and tug it back over her shoulder when it slipped. "Look you stubborn Ranger.. I can outdrive you while sloppy drunk, which I am NOT. I had a couple sips of wine.."

"Three glasses..."

".. a FEW sips of wine.. I wasn't knocking back Jack Daniels shots. Give me the keys."

"No. Three glasses at yer body weight is too much.. "

"What are you saying about my weight?"

Beach shut his mouth, the mental alarm going off internally. 'Don't say anything about her weight.' Rule number one. No talking about weight right? What was the whole rule? "You look like ya lost weight?" He squinched his eyes shut when she popped him in the bicep with one hard fist. "Ow. Wrong answer?"

"Beach.. give me the damned keys."

"No." He suddenly crossed his arms and stood there with a scowl. "Yer not drivin', and that's that." He raised his hands up to fend her off as she threw a couple punches at his chest. "Cut it out. YOU know the rules! Yer a driver.. "

She stopped and stood there frowning. Her wrap slipped again and she grabbed and yanked it back over her shoulders. "Fine! Just fine.." She stalked over and snatched open the passenger door to get in and slammed it shut before Beach could try to assist her. He sighed and rubbed his forehead for a second and then went and settled into the driver's seat. She reached over to smack his arm once he'd closed the door. "You're a jerk."

"I'm just.."

"I don't want to hear it."

"Alright." He looked at her for a few seconds. "Do you wanna go back to base?"

She gave him a hurt look. "What? Now you don't want to go star-gazing now?"

"No, I wanna go.. I just wanna be sure you wanna go. Yer all mad at me." He jumped when she lunged over to hug his neck. "Well.. okay.."

"It's okay Beach. I'm.. I'm not really that mad.. I'm just a little irritated. You're right.. but once we're done with the star-gazing, I can drive then. It'll be long enough." She sat back on her side and busied herself with arranging the shawl properly.

"Alright. Where should we go?" He drove through town with extreme care, still a bit paranoid that something would go wrong and he'd get busted by the local police. Even though Kreiger was the one who'd gotten into a fight, somehow he'd end up the one in trouble. Once they left the edges of town and headed out into the surrounding empty countryside, he relaxed and let the car's speed increase. Courtney directed him along a few back roads lit only by their headlights until they found a deserted spot with nearly nothing around them but a few rocks.

"This will be perfect! Come on.. " She got out and went to the back to wait for him to open the rear door. Once he unlocked it, she dragged out a bundle of blankets. "Here.." Handing the bundle to him she waved to a general area. "Over there would be fine." She closed the door and the interior light of the vehicle went out. "Wow... it's dark."

There was a snort from the unseen Ranger. "That's why ya wanted waay out here, right?" He moved closer. "Can ya see to walk? Here.. put yer hand on me.."

"Oooooooo... I'll put my hand right.."

"Oh stop it or I'll let ya trip on yer face.." He waited for her to fumble a hold onto his shirt and then led her over to an open spot. "Here okay?"

"I guess so.. I can't see a thing." She turned loose and tried to peer around, finally able to make out dim outlines. It was profoundly dark in a way that she rarely saw. Only the very dim light from the overhead stars made faint shapes out of the blackness.

Beach spread a thick layer of blankets and she watched his shadowy figure. The rustle of the blankets sounded loud in the darkness. She could just make out the outline of the cloth as he arranged it. Finally he looked at her. "What? Did I do it wrong?"

"No.. just.. did you think you needed quite that much room for us on the blankets?" She watched him look at the blankets, think it over and chew on his tongue for a second. "It's fine.. don't worry... give me a hand down.." He held her hand while she folded herself down onto the blankets and tugged her shoes off. "That's better."

He dropped a couple of water bottles on the sand next to the blankets and looked down at her where she was stretching her legs out and arranging her skirt neatly. "Ya need anything else?" His vision was already fully adjusted and he could see her dimly. Definitely well enough to notice the long legs and all the curves.

She turned her head this way and that for a moment. "Umm.. yeah..." He waited patiently for her to tell him what it was. "I need a big burly Ranger to keep me company."

Beach grinned. "Did ya pack one in the trunk?"

"Beach, sit your butt down or I'm going to get up and kick you so hard..."

He chuckled and stepped a few feet away. "What? I'll bet ya couldn't find me if I was to try to avoid ya.."

"Waaaaayne..." The warning tone in her voice made him step back up closer. "Get down here."

"Yes'm." He settled heavily to the blankets and brushed sand away before hitching himself over to sit next to her. "Better?"

She scooted over closer. "Yes.. much better." He twisted to look at her for a second. "Yes Beach?" He put a hand on her shoulder and bent to kiss her lips lightly. She sighed lightly as their lips broke contact. He pushed gently to encourage her to lie back and she complied breathlessly. "Wayne..?"

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Yes, sorry.. I'm stopping there... consider it a challenge to encourage me to post the next section quickly. Creative reviews, anyone? Tell you what.. I'll pick the MOST CREATIVE REVIEW... and that person(you MUST sign in to qualify, otherwise I can't contact you) can pick a name for a character for the upcoming Ranger Rendezvous fic! That character will be just a "background OC", but they will be in the fic. How's that for something fun?

Don't worry, I'll post the next section fairly quickly.


	5. Chapter 5:Touching moments

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Please don't tar and feather me for the continuation... heh.. I know what you THOUGHT was gonna happen! Tcch tcch!

Since so many people reviewed, I thought I'd update a bit quicker than I originally planned. Just cause I loves ya'll so much. So here... read, savor, review.

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"Can't star gaze 'less yer laying down.." Beach turned slightly and settled onto his back beside her.

"Uhh.. yeah..." Courtney swallowed and took a long deep breath to settle herself. When she actually looked up at the sky she gasped. "Wow... look at how many stars!"

He smiled to himself and gestured grandly at the sky. "Impressive huh? I put 'em all up tonight, just fer you."

She laughed and reached over to smack at him. "You're a smartass." She sighed and tilted her head around. "It really is gorgeous.. look! A satellite!" She pointed and he watched until he spotted it too. "They move pretty fast, don't they?"

"Yep. I wonder if it's one of ours?" He coughed slightly. "I wonder if it's one of them top secret ones we ain't supposed to know about? Might be getting a visit from them men in black suits."

She rolled over and slapped a hand over his eyes before he could protest. "Don't look! It's a super secret one!" She giggled while he sighed in a long suffering way at her actions. "I'm only doing it for your own protection, Beach!"

"Ahh.. I see... or well.. I don't see. Thank you so much for protectin' me." He reached up and took her hand to kiss it a few times. "I think I'll take my chances lookin' at stuff." Turning his head to look at her, she saw the flash of his teeth as he grinned. "Especially if'n I got such gorgeous stuff to look at."

Courtney raised up on an elbow to kiss his lips and then rolled back onto her back again before he could begin to pull away. "Well thank you, Wayne. You're awfully good to look at too."

"You ain't gotta say stuff like that." His hand came up and brushed over his face lightly before he realized what he was doing and put it back down. "I'm just happy you don't mind how I look."

Unable to let that slide, Courtney rolled back to her side to gaze at him seriously. "What do you mean? You're good looking. Nothing wrong with how you look, especially when you aren't all covered up with that green mask." He snorted at her. "No really.. the other women chatter about they wish you didn't keep it on so often.. of course.. " She paused slyly. "They also wish you'd go back to running in the mornings in shorts again. The weather is warming up you know."

He coughed slightly in embarrassment. "Uhh.. yeah, ya'll women need to learn some manners.. goin' and talkin' about me like that. If I went and talked about ya'll that way, I'd get written up fer sexual harassin' ya'll."

"Stop ducking the question Sneeden. What's wrong with how you look?" She reached over to run a hand over his chest, making him jump. "I know you're in perfect shape.. abs of hardened steel. Why would you think you look bad?" She didn't want to harp at him over it, but it upset her to hear he didn't think she liked how he looked.

He took a breath and tilted his head at her. "I know.. you like me.. busted nose and all. Just ain't too used to no one wantin' to look at me like you do." She could see the dark eyes glitter slightly in the dim starlight. "I ain't too used to anyone bein' nice to me lessen they want something outa me."

She scooted over and rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't want anything you don't want to give me, Wayne. If your busted nose bothers you so much, I'll break it for you and we can have Doc straighten it out nicely. I won't like you any better with a straight nose than I love you right now with a crooked nose." She reached up and tugged at it. "Besides, with it crooked to the side a little, it makes it easier to kiss you, it doesn't bump into my nose!"

"Really?" He laughed slightly. "Yer a strange strange woman. No, don't bother breakin' my nose, I'm sure Flint would get all out of sorts if'n you took his favorite hobby over." He shifted around and she lifted up off his shoulder while he rearranged himself. His arm wrapped around her shoulders and tugged her into place against him. She settled in comfortably using his arm and shoulder as a pillow. "There.. that's better." He peered down at her. "Yer not cold are ya?"

"No, I'm fine right now." She reached across to hug his chest. "You're all warm." He hummed softly. "This is nice. Look at that sky.. there's no moon though."

"Nope, no moon until near about four in the mornin'. Didn't wanna have it washin' all the stars out. Too much light from it." He twisted slightly and she felt his warm breath on her hair. "You smell really nice. Makes it a little hard to pay attention to stars when I got you right here."

"Sorry, I'm distracting you from star gazing.. that's terrible of me." He started to protest and she hugged him tighter. "I'm joking, Wayne."

"Oh.. yeah.. I knew that." He suddenly pointed. "There's another satellite. Ya think in another few years that kids'll be saying 'make a wish' on satellites insteada stars?"

"Oh I hope not. That's not nearly as romantic." She snuggled in closer and put one leg over his, feeling him jerk slightly in reaction. "I prefer the romantic stars to more mundane satellites." She waited until he relaxed and smiled when his hand began to stroke her arm where she held him. "Thank you for dressing up for me too."

"Oh.. well.. yeah." He rubbed his chin over her head gently. "Yer worth dressin' up fer.. 'sides, I'm told my ass looks great in these pants." She chuckled at him. "I might have a crooked nose, but I got a killer ass.. and I got nice pipes too." He flexed his free arm for her a couple times, while she tried not to giggle.

"Yes, very nice." Her hand stroked down his arm, feeling the soft hair on his forearm. Her fingers twined into his for a moment before he raised it up to his lips to kiss her palm. She disentangled her hand and stroked his cheek gently. "Wayne... you know, we're all alone out here.."

His breath went just a bit shallow. "Yeah." His face turned into her palm as she touched him.

"Well.. it'd be a shame if we didn't.. uhh.. take advantage of the privacy.. right?" Courtney twisted to look up at his face and he bent enough to kiss her lightly.

"Be a danged shame.." His hands lifted her weight slightly, bringing her body further over his. Lips met, touched, tasted. Her fingers slipped around his neck to cradle his head. Beach let out a soft drawn out groan and she smiled against his lips. His lips traveled under her jaw and then moved up to her ear. When he nibbled at her earlobe she shivered. The slight pinch made her pull back as he gagged slightly.

"Huuuck..." He spat something out and looked at his hand. "Oh.. yer wearin' earrings..." She felt at her bare earlobe. "Sorry, they're real pretty." He handed it back to her.

"You didn't notice? Geez Wayne.. I picked these out especially for this date, you know." She refastened it by feel. "Don't suck my earrings off me.."

"I said I was sorry. Ya just got me so.. flustered.." He reached to pull her back down on top of him. "Lemme make it up to ya..."

She arched slightly as one of his hands slid down along her back, over the curve of her hip and down the silk-covered thigh. She raised it slightly forward, letting it brush along his muscled thigh and then lowering herself along his body. "You are so sexy.."

"Ahh.. yer the sexy one.." He smiled and stroked her thigh. "Yer stockin' is awfully smooth..." His fingers roamed a bit higher. "Ah think Ah prefer yer silky skin though.." The soft noise of pleasure she made caused a flare of heat inside him.

"Wayne..." She let out a warm breath beside his ear, kissed just under it softly. "Wayne, I want.."

"FREEZE!" Both of them struggled to disentangle themselves as a bright light blinded them. "SHOW YOUR HANDS!"

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Oh come ON now! You should EXPECT these interruptions by now. In fact, you'd think they'd expect them.. except I suspect at least Beach isn't very capable of complex thought when they start necking. Next chapter.. coming soon. Please feel free to review. Still loving it? Groaning in disappointment? Here's a spoiler for the next chapter... it's NOT Williams this time.


	6. Chapter 6:Interrupted

See? I told you I'd post quickly! Thank you to Totenkinder Madchen for the Haiku Review for Most Creative, and also Thank You to TinySprite for her Announcer Style review! Both have submitted names that will be used somewhere in the Ranger Rendezvous fic that will be upcoming later.

And... now.. back to the action!

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Beach cursed loudly, finally getting himself from under the tank jockey and surging up to his feet. "What the hell is goin' on!" He held up a hand to shield the light from his eyes as he tugged his handgun free. "Back off!"

The disembodied voice sounded a little paniced. "Drop the weapon! Drop the weapon! DROP IT!" When the Ranger brought his hand around, a second light flashed on from the nearby vehicle that had ghosted up in the dark. The blinding spotlight made Beach turn towards the second threat. "Don't make me taser you! Drop the gun!"

Beach snarled. "Ah ain't.." Before he could finish, there was a loud pop and the prongs from the taser embedded themselves into his chest. The slight buzz seemed loud as he gritted his teeth and stiffened in pain, handgun dropping to the sand. "Nnnghh.."

CoverGirl was finally onto her feet. Before she could move to jump the officer, a second one confronted her with one hand on his gun. She shoved at him anyway. "Get out of my face! Leave him alone!"

The crackle from the taser finally stopped and Beach huffed slightly. "Gawd damn ya bastard.." He reached for the wires. The officer, highly disturbed that his suspect was still standing instead of writhing on the sand helplessly, pressed the trigger again. This time the burly Ranger staggered and twitched, remaining standing despite the electric pulses of pain.

CoverGirl screamed at him. "STOP THAT!" She started forward and was intercepted again by the second cop. "Get your hands OFF ME!" She punched him solidly in the ribs, staggering him back.

The second time the crackle stopped, Beach quickly grabbed and yanked, removing the barbs. "Stop taserin' me, ya freakin' pogue!"

"That's enough!" When the third cop stepped up and swung a heavy baton at Beach's head, he really was convinced he'd put the aggressive man down easily. The loud crack of the baton hitting skull made him wince, hoping he hadn't actually killed the stubborn guy. When Beach staggered and then turned to glare at him, he suddenly had a passing thought that perhaps this was about to go terribly wrong.

"Alright... that's it.." Beach snatched the baton to one side and punched once into the side of the cop's head to drop him as if poleaxed. Twisting around, he pointed at the one still struggling to either contain or escape from an extremely angry ex-model who didn't seem at all worried about further damage to her stockings any more. "Leggo her! Right damned now!"

"You stop right there!" The cop tried to capture CoverGirl's right arm before she used the elbow on his nose again. "I'll get to you as soon as I'm done with this hellcat!"

Beach's eyes narrowed and he took a step towards him. "Ah ain't tellin' you again.. any part a you that's touchin' her in three seconds.. aint' goin' home with you...understand?" A loud crack sounded just before he dropped to his knees looking stunned.

The first policeman now standing behind him hefted his heavy maglite in preparation for a second blow. The cop's nervous tone cut through Beach's confusion. "Now.. now you just stay down! And you!" He pointed to the angry woman. "You just put your hands on your head!" Beach growled loudly, struggling to get up. The cop dropped his flashlight and pulled out his pistol to point at the Ranger's head. "Don't make me shoot you! We're the police.. you're both being detained.. just stay down!"

Beach tilted his head up, trying to look through unfocused eyes. "Cops?"

"Yeah.. cops.." The gun didn't waver. "Put your hands on your head!" Beach seemed to consider it and settled back to his knees, still glaring at the officer cuffing CoverGirl. She had stopped fighting as soon as he had, hearing they were in a fistfight with the local police.

Beach allowed the cuffs to be placed on himself, ignoring the rough handling he got from the cop he'd knocked down. "What the hell are we bein' arrested for?"

With both Joes secured, the third cop seemed less nervous and put away his weapon. "You're not arrested yet.. you're detained."

The Ranger rolled his eyes. "So what the hell are we bein' 'detained' fer?" When he was tugged, he stood up easily, despite the tight cuffs pinning his arms behind his back. "Don't ya go pullin' on her!"

CoverGirl jerked away from the one manhandling her. "Get off me! So help me god I'll kick you in the nads if you touch me one more time!"

"Settle down, woman!" Beach's annoyance cut through her anger and she glared at him. "Tell us what we're bein' detained fer, or Ah ain't stayin' cuffed." That made all three look a bit nervous again, as they completely believed he would somehow be able to get loose. One put a hand on his holstered taser and Beach's eyes narrowed. "If'n you use another damned taser on me again, Ah'll make ya eat the damned thing. Ah don't like bein' tasered."

"Well.. you settle your self down and I won't have to. Your girlfriend here is wanted for assault, if you hadn't come up swinging, you wouldn't be in cuffs." One of the police went to radio in to the station and the other two put the protesting soldiers into the back of a cop car.

CoverGirl shouted angrily. "That slut attacked ME! I only defended myself!"

Beach sighed and shifted around to find the most comfortable spot in the backseat of the patrol car. "Shut up, Cinderella. They'll have to call Duke and he'll figure it all out." He slumped slightly. "And I'm gonna be back on KP AGAIN.. and it still ain't my danged fault! I didn't do nothin' but get zapped and whacked."

The cop in the front seat frowned. "You attacked a peace officer."

"He TASERED me! Twice! AND he whacked me in the danged head with a baton!" Beach sounded a little bit outraged. The cop cranked up at orders to transport the two detainees and started down the road. The Ranger twisted to look at their vehicle receding behind them. "Hey! You can't leave our vehicle out there!"

"We're not.. it'll be towed."

CoverGirl groaned loudly. "Oh great! I'll have to realign the front end and you'll ruin the suspension. Just what I need!"

Their driver snorted mirthlessly. "Well, maybe next time you won't start fights with people."

Beach cleared his throat. "Ya know, we're both Army... yer gonna have to turn us over to our CO. Why not just go on and drive us up to the.. to the uhh.. base?"

They were glared at in the rear view mirror. "Oh? I should have guessed. More soldiers causing havoc on leave. No, you'll be booked for assault on a peace officer, plus you pulled a gun. Your girl there is going to be charged with assault AND assault on a peace officer. So maybe if the judge is feeling exceptionally generous, he might only sentence you to a couple years. I'm sure by the time you both get out, your enlistment period will be up."

Beach looked at CoverGirl with a smirk. "Duke is gonna kill both of us."

She sighed at him. "But we didn't do anything! Other than beating up a couple cops..."

There was a deep chuckle as Beach leaned back in the seat. Suddenly he looked at her. "This was a nice date. I had fun. Besides the taserin' and the concussions, I mean."

She grinned at him with her disheveled hair and scuffed up dress. "Awww.. you're awfully sweet. Sorry you got tasered. Shouldn't you have just flopped on the ground though?"

"Ehh... taser's just painful. I had worse." Beach's nonchalance almost covered the fact that half his chest muscles were still twitching.

The cop looked at them through the mirror again. "No one stands up after being tasered."

Beach grinned toothily at him in a dangerous manner. "Yeah.. how about we test that again? Gimme a stick and you keep the taser.. last man standin' wins."

"Are you threatening me? I'll add that to the charges!" The car swerved slightly as the driver over-corrected from trying to watch the two crazy people in his backseat instead of the road.

"I didn't threaten ya, stupid civilians... just offered a friendly wager to ya... if'n yer too chicken to take me up on it.. just say so." The car was quiet a while. Beach looked over at the scuffed up tank jockey. "Looks like ya finished ruining those stockin's." He told himself he was just assessing for damage to his compatriot, not checking out her thighs.

She twisted her head to peer at her legs. "Yeah.. they're trashed now.. and I lost my shoes.. those were $200 heels too. bastards." She looked up at the cop. "You guys are paying for my shoes if they aren't in our car!"

"Yeah yeah.. shut up sister."

She glared at then flopped back in the seat. "This is crazy. I can't believe we finally get to go on a date.. and Williams DOESN'T manage to interrupt us.. and we end up cuffed in a cop car."

Beach looked chagrined. "Sorry.. I guess we just have excitin' dates."

She had to laugh. "Okay.. it's not your fault anyway. That hussy waitress probably called the cops when she lost. Wait until her car gets flattened accidentally by a rogue tank.. that'll teach her."

Beach rolled his eyes and sighed. She sighed back at him and he shook his head. "Well.. ya wanna go to Fort Benning with me?"

She blinked at him. "Now? I don't think we'll be going anywhere.. much less across the whole country again. You have another road trip to take?"

He swallowed and shook his head. "Ah gotta go ta Rendezvous... at Bennin'.. an' Ah thought maybe ya might wanna come along.. " His gaze flicked up to her face and away. "But if'n ya aren't interested.."

"No! No.. I'd love to go.. I just.. I don't know what Rendezvous is." Courtney leaned closer to him.

The cop asked incredulously. "Are you asking her out on a date in the back of my patrol car while you're both cuffed and due to go to jail for the next two years?"

Beach glared and kicked the seat hard. "Shut it, ya stupid civie!" He turned back to Courtney. "It's a week long thing at Fort Benning, Ranger competition. Hawk done told me I gotta go." She noted his accent lessening again as he relaxed a little bit once she'd accepted. "I just thought.. it'd be a long borin' week.. but.. ya know.. if'n ya wanted to come along..well.. that'd be real nice." He paused for a moment thinking. "Stalker is gonna go too."

"It sounds great. I'll have to put in for leave time.. but as long as my leave gets approved, I'd love to go with you." She looked out the window as they reentered town. "Sounds great.. thank you for asking me to come."

He looked pleased. "Well.. see? I done gone and asked ya out again."

She laughed and leaned over to put her head on his shoulder. "Yes.. you're a regular Don Juan."

"Don who?"

"Never mind."

"But.. my name ain't Don.. or Donald..."

"Shut up. Really.. just.. let it go."

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End Chapter

Look! LOOK! NOT a cliffhanger! In fact, there's just one more short chapter to wrap things up. I'm so glad so many folks have enjoyed it, it was great fun to write, and even more fun to read all the reviews!


	7. Chapter 7: Ends

The final chapter!

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Duke steamed as he walked down the corridor. He'd been awakened at an ungodly hour by Flint, who had seemed entirely too amused at his duty to inform the sleeping officer that there had been an 'incident' in town. The sketchy details they'd gleaned from the police radio chatter made Duke's head begin to throb. Breaker managed to get the full story once they knew there'd been an incident. Duke had warned BeachHead if he caused any trouble in town, there'd be consequences. Now he was in the little dinky police headquarters, seeing more coffeecups than weapons, with a handful of paperwork, going to retrieve two of his soldiers.

Law paced just behind him, accompanied as always by his energetic shepard. "Order! Settle down. Duke.. calm down, I'm sure Beach'll have some explanation."

Duke scowled. "Oh, I am CERTAIN he'll have an explanation. Whether I let him live long enough to tell it to me is another matter." He turned the corner and headed directly through the open office scattered with desks and filing cabinets to the police chief's office. "I understand you're holding two of my soldiers, and I'm here to collect them."

"Well... we'll just see about that. Your soldiers have some serious charges against them. I'm pretty certain that they'll be staying right here in holding until the judge can see them monday morning." The police chief was exceptionally smug for an overweight, underpaid public servant and Duke smiled in a reasonable manner at him. "Don't even bother fussing at me, don't give me that whole 'just blowing off some steam' or that I should let it slide just because they are military."

Duke's smile went a little smug. "It's four in the morning. I don't have the patience for the reasonable arguments." He held up the page in his hand. "This says you'll release them into my custody.. unless you'd like to see the inside view from a federal prison for interfering in a secure military operation?"

The man's pudgy face went pale. "But.. but... they.. they assaulted..."

Duke tucked the papers away in the folder and handed them back to the MP standing behind him patiently. "I don't care really. If you just must have justification, check on the security camera in the front lobby of the Terry's Florist shop. You'll see the initial assault was a unprovoked attack on my female soldier. The arresting assault charges are from your men not correctly identifying themselves when they jumped a pair of combat soldiers without warning. Since the initial assault charges are bogus, the arrest is unwarranted, and your cops failed to correctly identify themselves as officers of the law, the secondary charges are also bogus. And even if all the charges were legitimate, I can still demand they be released into military custody for us to punish them properly. So either release my men immediately, or I'm going to become mildly annoyed and crush this whole station to dust under my heel. Got me?"

The police chief swallowed hard. "I'll call down to holding."

"You do that." Duke turned on his heel to head down to the holding cells, followed by a slightly amused looking Law and a still enthusiastic Order who kept trying to lick Duke's hand as he stomped down the hallway. "I swear.. both of them are toast as soon as I get them back onto base."

Law kept his voice low. "You know you told the truth.. none of this was entirely their fault. You can't fault her for fighting back to get a.."

"Law... shut up."

"Yes sir."

As they pushed open a door leading to the holding cells, Duke winced. The very distinct strains of BeachHead's voice drifted up to them as he was singing exceptionally loudly for him.

"Ah fell fer you like a child, ooh but the fire went wild! Ah fell innnto a burnin' ring a fire! Ah went down down doooown an' the flames went higher! An' it burns burns burns..."

Law raised his eyebrows. "You know.. he's not bad.. I'd never think a guy that screams all day would have any voice at all."

Duke turned to glare at him. "Law..."

"Shut up, yes sir. Shutting up, sir." Order barked twice and Law reached down to clamp a hand around the shepard's mouth. "Order is shutting up too, sir."

"Good." Duke turned back to head down the stairs.

The singing had abruptly stopped. "HEY! HEY! IS THAT ORDER! COME ON, ORDER! COME!"

The shepard went bounding past Duke and down the hall. By the time the two reached the guards, Order had managed to squeeze past to rush up to the bars of the cells and get petted by CoverGirl who was kneeling to give him scratches behind his ears.

"Hi Order! Good boy! Who's the good boy!"

Duke cleared his throat and both Beach and CoverGirl lept to their feet at attention.

"Sir!" "Sir!"

Duke ignored the two guards and walked up to the doors to stare at them with his hands on his hips. "I know you want to explain.. and I know I don't want to hear it. You're going back to base.. and then you're both going to be very quiet until I get up in the morning to decide how long you'll be on punishment duty and whether both of you should be busted down to Private." He saw Beach twitch, watched CoverGirl's mouth open, then shut again. "So you understand?"

"YES SIR!" YES SIR!"

He scowled and motioned curtly at the guards. "Let them out. Lord help me, I should leave them in here to rot. I don't know what the blazes I ever did to deserve two hooligans under my command.. I should bust both of you anyway and let you scrub floors for the rest of time."

They stepped out and stood still waiting for him to finish. Even Order sat beside Beach and wagged his tail, looking from Duke's face up to the Ranger and back.

Duke jerked his head. "Come on then." He walked out without a backwards glance and was followed by his two errant soldiers and the MP in the rear.

Once Duke was several steps ahead, Law spoke quietly. "How'd the date go?"

Courtney smiled and tossed her hair back, ignoring her scuffed face, bare feet and tattered stockings. "It went great. You should totally give that restaurant a try." She turned to smile at the MP. "And Beach asked me to go on a trip with him."

Beach grunted. "I got tased twice and I think I got an concussion."

Law grinned happily. "Sounds like a great time was had by all."

Duke's voice cut through all of it. "SHUT UP BACK THERE!"

"YES SIR!" "YES SIR!" "YES SIR!"

CoverGirl leaned back to whisper. "I love romance on the Beach." Law snickered and BeachHead rolled his eyes.

"Yes gonna get us both busted." The Ranger sighed and reached up to rub at his head. "I gotta knot on my danged head."

She reached to put her arm through his. "Well.. you should have two knots.. did the big mean policey-mens hit you in the same spot twice?"

"You chap mah ass Kreiger."

"I do try. It's such a nice ass.. especially in those pants. You should wear them as your uniform."

"Gawd.. shut up. If'n we could point yer danged mouth at the enemy, we'd never hafta buy ammo again."

Duke was on top of them suddenly. "I SAID SHUT IT! WHAT PART OF SHUT UP DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!"

Beach snapped to attention. CoverGirl did so more nonchalantly. "The 'shut' part, Sir."

Beach turned on her unexpectedly. "Disrespectin' an officer! Drop and gimme fifty! RIGHT DANGED NOW!"

She was so startled that she was on the floor halfway through the punishment before she realized it. Beach returned to attention and stood while Duke yelled at him some more, even though it was CoverGirl that had snarked off. Finally they were allowed to get into the backseat of a jeep to be hauled back to the Pit. Law drove and Duke sat shotgun, fuming the entire way.

The two solders in the back sat quietly. Beach snuck his hand over to take hers. His whisper was so quiet she had to strain to hear it. "Thanks fer goin' out with me, Courtney."

She squeezed his hand back and smiled. Her whisper was just as quiet. "It was the best date ever, Wayne."

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When they arrived back at base, they climbed out of the vehicle and Beach was rubbing his tired eyes. The looks from the handful of Joes who 'happened' to be waiting around in the motorpool made CoverGirl glare. Her disheveled state, dress torn in spots, stockings ruined, shoes missing and hair tangled up in a rat's nest, all combined to stun the guys.

There was silence for several seconds. Beach walked around and stopped as he spotted Clutch, Shipwreck and three of his greenshirts.

Clutch suddenly grinned at him. "Whoooooa! Beach! Dude.. you're an ANIMAL!" All of the guys started hooting with laughter and mock-cheering Beach, who looked puzzled.

"Whut? I dunno..." He looked at Courtney who was looking madder every nanosecond, over to the guys continued to laugh and make suggestive comments, back to Courtney who was obviously testing her ability to incinerate humans with only her angry glare. "Oh.. OH! Jebus Crissy! No! NO! Ah didn't do none of that to her!" Courtney turned on him, seething and he held up his hands. "Ah'm denyin' it! Not mah fault! Don't use the wrench!"

The first yelp of pain was from Beach, but the last strains of pain-filled cries from the rest of the retreating males took several minutes to die away.

Duke stood with Law and Order and glared. "Dammit.. you'd think that I'd just request a transfer."

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Several very long hours later, both 'guilty' parties stood at attention in front of Duke's desk in his office. All three had gotten some measure of sleep, eventually. Duke had spent the past hour filling out paperwork regarding the whole thing, talking to various officials who needed egos soothed and thinking over exactly how much of the whole situation was which person's fault.

"All right... now.. don't think I don't understand that CoverGirl was attacked, and she didn't 'start' the fight." CoverGirl smiled slightly. Duke frowned at her. "But... you did fight back, and you did continue the fight to the point that BeachHead had to physically restrain you from continuing the fight." She stopped smiling. "So I'm putting you on two weeks of KP duty for that. The fact that you cracked a rib on a cop, who on the other hand, didn't identify himself exactly.. but you had to know it was the local police... so I'm doubling your KP duty to four weeks. In addition, no leave to go into town for at least the whole month as well."

She looked crestfallen. "Yes sir, Duke."

He turned his attention to Beach who stood completely still. "Now, I'd give you the same punishment for fighting with the cops.. especially since you managed to give one a concussion, and traumatized two others by not falling over when tasered. But it appears the kitchen crew has prohibited you from entering any food prep area on pain of peanut butter sandwiches for the foreseeable future. Seeing as I hate peanut butter for dinner..."

Inside his head, Beach began to silently chant 'not guard duty, not guard duty, not guard duty..'

Duke continued. "Two weeks of guard duty."

"Crap." Beach sighed. "Roving patrols?"

"Standing guard duty." Duke absolutely didn't show his extreme pleasure in handing out that particular punishment to the Sergeant major.

"Crap." Beach tried one last attempt. "Standing at the gates?"

"Computer server room door downstairs."

"Crap."

The Ranger looked so crestfallen that Duke almost felt bad for him. "At least it will be quiet down there. And I'll turn a blind eye to any minor injuries that happen to occur to anyone taunting you while on guard duty."

Beach thought it over. "Minor according to Lifeline, minor according to you, or minor according to ME?"

Duke's eyes narrowed. "Don't push your luck, Beach."

"Yessir."

Duke stacked his papers carefully then looked at them both. "Well.. was the night actually worth all this trouble?"

CoverGirl and Beach looked at each other and suddenly sported nearly identical grins. Their unanimous answer chorused at their commanding officer. "Yes SIR!"

"God help me.. dismissed." Duke watched them both leave and thought over the monster this situation had become. He wanted all his people to be happy, he knew the two of them would completely implode if he forbid them to see each other or worse, transferred one of them out. But he'd never ever foreseen how many complete disasters would occur regarding the two most unlikely partners pairing up.

"Where the blue blazes is my aspirin?"


End file.
